6 ¹ Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem;
for evil looms out of the north,
and great destruction.
6 ² The comely and delicately bred I will destroy,
the daughter of Zion.
6 ³ Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her;
they shall pitch their tents around her,
they shall pasture, each in his place.
6 ⁴ "Prepare war against her;
up, and let us attack at noon!"
"Woe to us, for the day declines,
for the shadows of evening lengthen!"
6 ⁵ "Up, and let us attack by night,
and destroy her palaces!"

6 ⁶ For thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"Hew down her trees;
cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city which must be punished;
there is nothing but oppression within her.
6 ⁷ As a well keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps fresh her wickedness;
violence and destruction are heard within her;
sickness and wounds are ever before me.
6 ⁸ Be warned, O Jerusalem,
lest I be alienated from you;
lest I make you a desolation,
an uninhabited land."